A question I received: I have a question about our group development. It looks like everyone inside the group as well as outside has lost his mind. Many have dropped studying, left the group, are afraid of getting attached to the group, and are scared of Kabbalah. There are many doubts if it is an authentic path to the Creator and it becomes more difficult to remain concentrated. I would like to know what it means and how a person can overcome these doubts.

My Answer: Groups without a strong spiritual leader cannot exist because group members are people who are not corrected and have a big ego. Their hearts are filled with egoistic desires though they have “the points in the heart,” which are just the points yet. And so hidden (for them) competition kicks in – a game who’s the first, who’s the chief, etc. It’s said in this case, “Separation of sinners from each other is good for them and for the world.” I spoke a lot about it on the last American congress. I think that people should gather together only for mutual dissemination actions; meaning, the actions geared towards outside (of the gathered). All other connections lead to disagreements. You are too “young” to ascend spiritually together. But if you contact each other only relative to work in dissemination then you can be of help to yourself and to others. Kabbalah is for the ones who are ready give themselves up, give up their egoism for the sake of mastering the quality of bestowal. But this is a gradual process and you have to take into account your nature. Otherwise you’d be as in the saying that thousands come but only singles (a few) left. If there is a group of people aspiring to one goal there must be a guide, a shepherd, a leader, a king. That’s how the world is created. Therefore, if there is no undisputable authority in the group there could be no group and our practice proves it.

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Questions I received on intentions and actions

Question: I have a question about the Light that returns one to the source. Do I have to desire for it to influence me while I am studying Kabbalah? If yes, who will influence me, and what will it influence?

My Answer: The Upper Light will influence your aspiration to correct your egoistic intention “to do everything for your own sake” to the altruistic intention to unite with all the souls, and with the original vessel of your soul, and in it – in the quality of bestowal and love – you will unite with the Creator.

Question: Should I intend to bestow before every material action I make?

My Answer: You should always try to remember, in your thoughts and feelings, that “there is none else beside the Creator,” that He acts inside and outside of you, and that all His actions are “good.”

Question: During one of your lessons someone asked a question about one’s intention while performing material actions (such as eating, drinking, and etc.), and you responded that people shouldn’t think about this. But shouldn’t I intend to bestow before every action I make? Right now the only intention we can have is to receive, because we don’t have a screen, yet at the same time, isn’t the correct intention for me to demand a screen from the Creator, in order to be able to give to Him?

My Answer: The best thing to do is to keep holding on to the thought that “There is none else besides Him” and that He is Good and so are all of His actions. I’m afraid that by trying to keep the intention to unite with the Creator while making material actions, you will only make mistakes. You will think that you already have the correct intention, the same as how religious people think. Besides this, you’ll begin thinking that with your actions, you are raising something up to the Creator, and correcting your soul. This is Chassidut. You will start believing that your food is asking you to eat it in order to correct it, and that by eating the food you are correcting yourself just by saying a blessing beforehand, instead of correcting yourself to the level of the blessing – love and bestowal.

After all, the realization that one’s intentions are evil also come to a person under the influence of the Light, the Light of the Torah, which only surrounds us when we study authentic Kabbalistic texts. You should pursue this intention during the lesson and when you disseminate, but not when you eat. You can’t even imagine where the hidden stumbling blocks lie, and how you will veer off from the true path to psychology, Chassidut, or mysticism without even realizing you are doing so. Follow the Kabbalists’ advice! Read Rabash’s articles about the group for beginners – his first twenty articles.

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Two questions I received about sharing Kabbalah with others

Question: In response to a question, you said “Don’t talk about Kabbalah to anyone except the people you study with.” But then how should we push people to Kabbalah? I feel that if I don’t remind certain people about this topic or give them hints, then they’ll never even find out that such a thing exists, at least not in this reincarnation.

My Answer: You can give them a “hint” but no more than that, and don’t push. You should be especially careful with the people you have constant contact with. It’s better if others will talk to them about Kabbalah. Keep your relationships with them regular, on the level of this world.

Question: Can a student without spiritual attainment rely on his direct intellectual understanding of Baal HaSulam’s works? I’ve been listening to the Bnei Baruch lessons and reading Talmud Eser Sefirot almost every day for over a year now. Every time I feel that I understand something I read, I have a strong desire to share it with other students. Can I write about the things I understand and give it to others to read? Or can I only give it to people who have spiritual attainment?

My Answer: You can, but don’t overload others. Do it only for making contacts. After all, by doing so you won’t be studying the main material, the Kabbalist’s thoughts, but your own thoughts.

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Two questions I received on corporeality’s relationship to spirituality:

Question: You’ve said that if people don’t study Kabbalah, it will lead to material consequences such as murder, destruction, and corporeal suffering, and that by studying Kabbalah, we can prevent the suffering. You have also said that the spiritual and the corporeal aren’t connected. How do you explain this contradiction?

My Answer: Spiritual forces operate from above downwards. They create and determine everything in the corporeal world. However, it is impossible to have a reverse effect, from below upwards, and influence the Upper World with one’s corporeal, physical actions. One can, however, influence the Upper World with one’s desires, by becoming similar and balanced with the Upper World to the extent of one’s desire for it. As a consequence, a force descends upon you from the Upper World – a Light that corrects you, making you similar to the Upper World.

Question: Is there a connection between a person’s place of residence and his luck, health, and happiness? How can someone find out where he should live?

My Answer: It doesn’t matter where one lives. It only matters if you live in a physically or spiritually dangerous place, near physical or spiritual criminals, because they influence you negatively. See Baal HaSulam’s article “The Freedom,” section “The Environment as a Factor.”

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Two questions I received on our perception of the world:

Question: How can I understand this paradox: On the one hand, we are being treated as one integral system of Adam, but at the same time we feel like individuals? And what about the individual who is incorporated into all the general suffering and woes, which happen to the entire system? How can he go through this path pleasantly and safely? And who is to blame for the fact that this system is so opposite to the laws of bestowal?

My Answer: Everything is built perfectly and logically. What you perceive is not a lousy world, but your own imperfections, your own picture of the world. If you correct yourself, then everything will radiate harmony.

It is because the screen on which you see yourself and your surroundings is your qualities, and in order to change yourself to see the world as eternal and perfect, or in other words, to live in this kind of world you depict, is by acquiring eternal and perfect qualities. This is why Kabbalah has been given to us.

Question: Why was the world created precisely the way it is? Why is there nature, attitude, change in attitude, suffering, pleasure, the will to receive, the will to bestow, etc.? Who needs all this? Why can’t we just enjoy and so be it? What is there to do for someone who has no patience and who doesn’t even have a desire to exist (not in a body or without a body, but to simply not exist)?

My Answer: The soul was created in perfection, in the World of Infinity. It lacks only one thing: the perception of this perfection. The only way to achieve this perception is by comparing the opposites of darkness and light – the absence of perfection and its presence. Its presence is there, but its absence is missing. This is why our world was created; it is the place where we have to fully perceive the absence of perfection, and together with it, return to the world of infinite perfection. There we will feel true fulfillment through these opposites.

Related Material:
Kabbalah Today Article: I Saw a Reversed World
Article: Perfection and the World
Shamati Article #34: The Profit of a Land
Lesson: Shamati Article #34 – The Profit of a Land [53:59]
Lesson: Shamati Article #34 – The Profit of a Land [53:59]

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